Software apps and online services

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About

In Germany we live in a country with waste separation: we have black tonnes for residual waste, blue tonnes for paper / packaging and green tonnes for biological waste.

In my case, you recognize 3 containers of a regional service provider in the size of 120 liters. The disposal takes place according to a precise schedule of the service provider. It comes as it has to come: the day before pickup usually asks your wife to bring out the appropriate garbage just before pickup. You are annoyed: the football game is running, it is raining and in front of you the stairwell. There are no excuses for you, men: unless the trash can is already full!

How

Schematic: you only need an Ultrasonic HC-SR04 with

trig > A3,

echo > A4,

VCC > VIN,

GND > GND

The evidence based on the facts is done quickly: pull out your smartphone and start the corresponding Blynk app with the graph.

1 / 2 • 2/2 - the distance readings: an error occurs after reading

This shows you how many centimeters can still be filled with (paper) waste, based on the available 90 centimeters height of the waste bin.

1 / 2 • Here I measured the maximum filling height so that the lid can still be closed

In my case, the photon still has enough WiFi connection and for the mobile power supply is sufficient a Particle Power Shield with appropriate LiPo battery.

Photon, Power Shield, LiPo, Breadboard

With prolonged use, I recommend to install an inconspicuous housing, which protects the photon from prying citizens. It could also switch off the internal RGB light.

Ultrasonic HC-SR04

Below the opened paper-ton lid, the distance sensor is attached, which indicates the remaining distance to the recognized paper. In my case, the ton has been emptied today: the sensor detects the full distance and outputs the 90 centimeters via Blynk.

So if you get less than a few centimeters, the problem of a full ton comes to the fore before the scheduled pickup.

The Blynk app contains only 2 widgets: a graph (400 energy points) and a value display (200 energy points). Pull both on the app surface and tie them to V0 or V1. Set the maximum value of V0 to the value of the constant tank_max (in my case 90). Do not forget to insert the authorization code in the program code.